wlacallister



T. C. MACALLISTER.

STREET RAILWAY CROSSING.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.20, 1914.

1,1 95,700. Patented Aug. 22,1916.

2 SHEETSSHEE T 1.

ammo o T. c. MAcALLI STER. STREET RAILWAY CROSSING.

APPLICATION HLED AUG.20, 1914. 1,1 95,700., Patented Aug. 22, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

THOMAS o. MAeALLIs'rnR, on NEW YORK, N. Y.

STREET-RAILWAY GROSSIN G.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 22, rate.

Application filed August 20, 1914. Serial No. 857,787.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS C. MAoAL- LISTER, a citizen of the UnitedStates, resid-, ing at New York, in the county of New York and State ofNew York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inStreet-Railway Crossings; and I do hereby declare the following to be afull,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

This invention comprehends certain new and useful improvements in streetrailway crossings and has for its primary object to provide auxiliaryconductor rails from which power may be obtained by an auxiliary shoecarried by a car to assist the same in traveling over a crossing.

The invention has for another object to provide a form and arrangementof auxiliary conductor rails and an auxiliary shoe which may be employedin connection with the form of conductor rails and shoes now in generaluse.

The invention has for a further object to generally improve and simplifythe construction and operation of devices of this character and increasethe efficiency thereof with out materially increasing the cost of, thesame.

With these and other objects in view as will become more apparent as thedescription proceeds, the invention consists in certain novel featuresof construction, combination and arrangement of parts as will behereinafter more fully described and claimed.

For a complete understanding of my invention, reference is to be had tothe following description and accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1is a plan view of the auxiliary conductor rail employed at a crossing,showing the position of said auxiliary conductor rail with respect tothe main conductor rails and the rails for the car wheels, Fig. 2 is anenlarged vertical transverse section taken at the crossing with a car inposition over the same to show the auxiliary shoe engaged with one ofthe auxiliary rails, and Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 and at rightangles to the same with the car and parts carried thereby shown in fulllines over the auxiliary conductor rails while the car and parts carriedthereby are indicated by dotted lines in position just beyond theauxiliary conductor rails.

Referring more particularly to the drawlngs, 1n which similar referencecharacters des gnate corresponding parts throughout the several views,designates the feed wire wh1ch extends along the lower portion of theconduit 2 and is connected at intervals to one of the main conductorrails 3 which are spaced from one another in the conduit 2 and adaptedto be engaged by the ordinary shoe 4 depending through the central slot5 of the track 6 and carried by a car 7, said shoe 4 belng connectedwith the motor 8 and rheostat or controller 9 of the car 7 in the usualmanner. One of the conductor rails is posit ve and the other conductorrail 3 is negatlve and the current passes from the positive conductorrail 3 through the mechanism of the car and back to thenegative rail 3in the usual manner when the shoe is in contact with the said conductorrail 3.

It is a well known fact that in the system .of underground conductorrails, the rails have to be cut away at the street crossings and itfrequently occurs that the motor-man makes amiscalculation or iscompelled to apply the brakes and thereby cut down the speed of the carwhen passing over a crossing and thereby permits the car to stop betweenthe sections of the conductor rails. It then becomes necessary for thecarmen to connect the stalled car with another car upon the same trackor an adjacent track, and pull the stalled car in one direction untilthe shoe 4 thereof is again between the main conductor rails 3.

In order to prevent the cars from becoming stalled at the crossing asabove described, I provide an auxiliary shoe 12 which may be readilysecured to the ordinary form of plow 4 now in general use to depend fromthe same and slide upon an auxiliary con ductor rail 13 provided in thebottom of the conduit 2 beneath the slot 5 at each crossing, theopposite ends of the auxiliary conductor rails 13 being beveled on theirupper faces, as indicated at 14 to permit the auxiliary shoe 12 toreadily engage said auxiliary rail 13 as the plow 4 leaves the end ofthe main conductor rail sections 3 immediately above the same, and alsopermit the shoe 12 to slide off of the auxiliary conductor rail 13 asthe plow 4 engages the next section 3 of the main conductor rail. Itwill be understood that the positive wire or positive third rail isconnected with the auxiliary rails to form a live crossing for supplyingcars, traveling in either direction with the current to pass over thecrossing, the current being received by the cars through their auxiliaryshoes and conveyed by the same to the mechanism of the cars, the returnof the current of the auxiliary rail being through the car wheels andthe street car rails when the car is traveling over thecrossing and theshoe 4 is out of contact with the conductor rails 3. The auxiliary railsby being flat at their treads and having the latter arranged in the samehorizontal plane will permit the auxiliary shoes of the cars travelingin .either direction to pass over them without obstruction and thecurrent from any portion of the live crossing will pass upward throughthe auxiliary shoes through suitable electrical connections carried bythe plow and connected with the motor and controller or rheostat. Thisconstruction will enable the main third rails to be arranged any desireddistance apart at the crossing and the cars will be supplied with thecurrent and there will be no liability of the cars being stalled at thecross ing. Also it will be clear that as the auxiliary rails of thecrossing are connected only with the positive third rail there will beno liability of short circuiting the cars at the crossing when the shoel is out of contact with the conductor rails.

While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown andillustrated, it will be understood that minor changes in the details ofconstruction combination and arrangement of parts may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the Oopies of this patent may beobtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

invention as claimed or sacrificing any of the advantages thereof.

What is claimed is l. A device of the character described comprising thecombination with a main shoe and auxiliary shoe of a car; of mainconductor rails having their ends spaced apart; of auxiliary conductorrails beneath the main conductor rails, and between the spaced endsthereof, to receive the auxiliary shoe as the main shoe passes from onemain conductor rail to the adjacent main conductor rail, and means forconducting an electrio current to the'said main and auxiliary conductorrails.

2. A device of the character described comprising the combination withthe main shoe and an auxiliary shoe depending from the same; of mainconductor rails formed in sections and arranged in pairs, the sectionsof the main conductor rails being spaced apart, auxiliary conductorrails between the sections of the main conductor rails and in a planelower than the plane of said main conductor rails, a feed wire,connections between the feed wire and the sections of the main conductorrails, and connections between the feed wire and the auxiliary conductorrails.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

THOMAS C. MAGALLISTER.

Witnesses:

JOHN B. MAGALLIsTER, F. IRVING HOLMES.

Washington, D. G.

